Guild Wars 2

Preface: I’m not an engi player. I’m merely considering building an engineer strictly for WvW (fun purpose) at undisclosed time in the future. For your own sanity while reading, assume 100% engineer ignorance.

The build’s philosophy:

- 1500 range sustained aoe damage in teamfight scenarios that can be used on the move (I’m not solo roaming with this)
- defense/mobility kept at minimum, just enough to keep up with the zerg and not die due to erratic/random aoe

1) Damage modifiers – do any of the following traits affect explosions (grenades)?

I’m asking because I don’t trust tooltips very much.

- Target the Weak
- Target the Maimed
- Scope
- Enduring Damage

2) Assuming 2-111…2-111…2-111… grenade rotation for damage, which trait will give highest dps – Explosive Powder or Short Fuse?

How does it change between zerker, hybrid and condition builds (for instance, do you include Poison Grenade in rotation and when/why)?

3) What’s the real dps of every build variant (zerker, hybrid, condition) in practice?

How does it’s performance vary between small skirmish fights and zerg trains (prot, condi remove, heals, blocks etc.)?

4)Do you find Enhance Performance/HGH traits with kit/elixir juggling for might stacking the absolutely best option for DPS, or are there alternatives?

We’re loosely comparing scholar/ogre vs 20% might vs undead runes, on zerker/hybrid/condition variants, with varying sigils – force, battle, bursting, fire, bloodlust, corruption.

5) Post-your-build time!

Zerker, hybrid or condition – which variant you favour and why?

Sigils, runes, traits, utility, food choice?

Alternatives?

Is there a community consensus on best option, or is it mostly player preference?

Any additional observations or advice in T1/T2/T3 server brackets?

PS. I know there are strong, tanky engineer builds with bombkit/toolkit specifically designed for close range fighting in zerg trains, but I’m not particularly interested in that style of play. There is a point where simply playing meta is no longer entertaining for me, and in this case fun is more important than competitive aspects.